We're Not So Different

folks, just as the ancient prophecies foretold, we're back for a second September mailbag episode. we dive back into the patrons questions again to talk about the 90's comedy Sister Act, treatments for very small injuries, the survival of the Hungarian language, pipe smoking in the Old World, Medieval home decor, what constitutes a colony, and more!

cover image is a promotional image for the 1992 film Sister Act, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Maggie Smith

folks, we are back with another mailbag episode for your enjoyment! we take patron questions about source survival, Tolkien as a medievalist, mercenaries, old primary sources, world peace, and more!

cover image is a bottle of Costco's Kirkland's Signature branded Chateauneuf du Pape, 2023 vintage I found online

(00:00:00) Intro - A tales of 2 online interactions

(00:06:32) What is hegemony, what does it mean for a Church to be hegemonic?

(00:14:29) Hegemony can't override individual interpretations of the Bible

(00:29:02) The Gregorian Reforms and the blunders that led to the crackdowns

(00:40:00) When the Church changed on: clerical celibacy, just war theory, enslaving other Christians, Pagan and Muslim toleration,

(00:51:03) When the Church changed on: mystery plays, folk saints, anchorites, vernacular bibles, witchcraft, poor orders, indulgen

folks, we talk a lot about the hegemony of the Catholic Church in Medieval Europe but what does that mean, exactly? we know the early Medieval Church had a less firm hand on many issues while the late Medieval Church was the hegemonic behemoth we all remember, but why did this change and when did it happen? and, regardless of anything else, even if the Church has hegemony over Europe, that does very little to actually ensure people don't stray too far from orthodoxy given how personal and neurotic everyone's religious interpretations are. we talk about all this, the blunders that led the Church to crackdown on so many things, and when they actually began to change their theology to accommodate this new, more heavy-handed approach.

cover image is a meme I made based on a screen from the Simpsons

folks, the new movie Uprising, starring Andrew Garfield, is supposed to be released in a week and yet, the film's entire marketing scheme was thrown into chaos when a seemingly unauthorized trailer linking the film to Robin Hood was published online. the production company has since confirmed that the film is based on Wat Tyler and the Peasant's Uprising of 1381 but that has still led many to question the origins of Robin Hood. so we talk about this movie marketing disaster, the origins of Robin Hood, how he is definitively not based on a real individual and is most certainly not Wat Tyler, and more. enjoy!

cover image is a still of Andrew Garfield as Wat Tyler in The Uprising

(00:00:00) Cold Open - Civ 7 and more ghosts

(00:10:07) Patron questions - Weird Italian perverts and Papal naming conventions

(00:24:05) Intro

(00:26:05) Viking Textile Industries

(00:31:57) Central Europe had 16 catastrophic floods in 2 years

(00:40:29) Bayeux Tapestry returns to England

(00:47:07) Alchemy is totally vindicated

(01:04:39) Death by Trebuchet

folks, there's recently been a spate of Medieval news that is interesting enough to include in podcast form and so we decide to talk about it. admittedly, some of it is not the most glamorous but it all greatly informs our understanding of the Medieval world, also death by trebuchet. we cover 5 topics: Viking textile industry, 2 years of catastrophic flooding in Central Europe, England bending the knee to get the Bayeux Tapestry back, the total vindication of alchemy, and, well, death by trebuchet!
Viking textile industry: https://archaeologymag.com/2026/06/viking-textile-production-center-near-aarhus/
Catastrophic European flooding 1341-43: https://www.science.org/content/article/medieval-europe-was-battered-16-catastrophic-floods-just-2-years
Bayeux Tapestry in England: https://www.artforum.com/news/british-culture-official-proposed-for-bayeux-tapestry-loan-1234756775/
Alchemy: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/gold-big-bang-theory-large-hadron-collider-b3033578.html
Trebuchet guy https://www.science.org/content/article/shattered-skeleton-scottish-castle-first-confirmed-death-trebuchet
cover image is a skeleton preserved with a stone crushing its head, revealed during the excavation of Pompei. yes, I said it was a meme but it's actually real